best landscaping material - flower bed and a moderately steep hill

[auralia]

We just bought a house this year and need to update the landscaping fill. It is just pine straw now which attracts snakes and doesn't last a season in Georgia before fading. I was going to do rubber mulch but now I'm wondering if stone is the way to go. I have done both at other houses and the stone got moldy looking after a while and was horrid to pressure wash, the rubber mulch i just vacuumed out with my leaf blower to get the dust off each year... I figure i need about 80 cubic feet or so to cover all areas. We plan to be in the house for a long time and I don't want to waste $ on something i will have to replace alot.... which is the best bang for the buck on this especially in relation to manual labor. I know rubber mulch can float away so we will have to do higher boarders but had already planned on doing 2 inch brick boarders with small gaps between the brick for water flow. (i have in the past done solid boarders and ended up with small mud ponds during rainy season here).

 

[imbatman]

I think there's more info needed. What area are you in? I ask because my climate is hot with zero humidity and what works for me may not work for you.

Also, the slope. And is it something you want to be visually attractive? Do you definitely want non-plant covering or would ice plants work? Ivy? How much sun/shade per day? Can you attach a picture for better suggestions?

 

[_19disnA]

^^ I agree and there are products you can put in your flower bed to discourage snakes if that is your main concern.

 

[SteveH]

IMHO you need to put in some type of terracing to prevent things from sliding down hill, no matter what you put down. I'd contact a Landscape architect, or larger firm that has a landscape architect. There are other things to consider when you do this.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

We just bought a house this year and need to update the landscaping fill. It is just pine straw now which attracts snakes and doesn't last a season in Georgia before fading. I was going to do rubber mulch but now I'm wondering if stone is the way to go. I have done both at other houses and the stone got moldy looking after a while and was horrid to pressure wash, the rubber mulch i just vacuumed out with my leaf blower to get the dust off each year... I figure i need about 80 cubic feet or so to cover all areas. We plan to be in the house for a long time and I don't want to waste $ on something i will have to replace alot.... which is the best bang for the buck on this especially in relation to manual labor. I know rubber mulch can float away so we will have to do higher boarders but had already planned on doing 2 inch brick boarders with small gaps between the brick for water flow. (i have in the past done solid boarders and ended up with small mud ponds during rainy season here).

We also live in Georgia, moved here 4 years ago. Pine straw seems to be the popular choice around here. My husband wanted nothing to do with it. He has done a lot of landscaping since we moved here. He said he wasn't going to, but I think he enjoys it. He put down pine bark, and under the pine bark a covering so the weeds don't come up. As you know we can get a lot of rain in Georgia and some of them with heavy down pours, which would wash away some pine park. He ending up putting some stones in certain areas and making boarders with a decorative brick which seems to have solved the problem. WE've gone thru several bad storms and no pine bark has washed away. The loose stones have not got moldy at all. My husband did find several storms drains that were covered (with dirt and grass) when he started fixing things outside. The previous owners didn't take care of properly so once he cleaned out that particular area, it helped (he put loose stones around the drains). He's done a lot of work in the past 4 years so basically, like he says, he's just in maintenance mode. We do have landscapers who really just cut the grass, trim grass edge and use leaf blowers. The leaf blowers sometimes blows some pine bark away (but the brick boarders help). So he really just has to put some pine bark down once in a while for a refresh, usually twice a year. He buys the bags at Home Depot, when on sale about $2.50 a bag).

 

[auralia]

^^ I agree and there are products you can put in your flower bed to discourage snakes if that is your main concern.

Our flower bed is flat with bushes good drainage. The hill runs the side of the property where it joins the neighbors. It’s new construction and the landscaper has mesh to hold the soil in place until the bushes spaced every 2 feet grow in. It’s all covered in pine straw now. Torn between rock or mulch really. Plan to make boarders around the beds and don’t want to have to replace it yearly.